The crack of thousands of rifles and the savage roar of artillery were incessant, and the German flare-lights round the salient appeared to encircle us.

There was a hurried consultation of officers and then the orders were given to the different companies.

An officer who was killed that night came down and told us that the Germans were in the wood which we could see before us at some distance in the moonlight, and that a house from which we saw gleams of light was held by German machine guns.

The men were told that they had to take the wood at the point of the bayonet and were not to fire, as the 10th Battalion would be in front of them.
I passed down the line and told them that they had a chance to do a bigger thing for Canada that night than had ever been done before.

(p.